In a network environment, a virtual chassis may be implemented by allowing a group (e.g., two or more) of routers or switches to behave as a single router or a single switch. In this type of network environment, the group of routers or switches may be grouped or connected together using cables. In order for the routers or switches to communicate with one another, each router or each switch needs to be up and running (versus being down due to a failure). That is, if one of the routers or one of the switches crashes, then routers or switches on one side of the crashed router or the crashed switch will lose connectivity to the other routers or to the other switches connected on the other side of the crashed router or the crashed switch. In such instances, this results in a split.
One solution to this problem is to connect the group of routers or switches in a ring fashion. However, this solution may resolve the issue when only a single router or a single switch crashes. This solution may not resolve the issue when multiple routers or multiple switches crash. Additionally, this solution requires that the routes associated with the crashed router or the crashed switch be reconfigured. In either case, traffic loss may occur.